Fred Leaves

This is a portrait of my house, my roommates, and our unnamed roles. As a writer i am not supposed to tell you what a piece is about. You are supposed to just guess be reading it. You are just supposed to feel it. The meaning of a really good piece of writing cannot be put into words. This will not be a very good piece of writing.

Since Fred left, the hierarchy of our house has been turned upside down. At thirty-one he was very much the head and father type in the house. Not that he was in charge of us, but he got things done. He was the one with a job, he was the one working on the landscaping in the front yard, even if he never actually finished it. And he owned the house.

The rest of us, college students, lived the social, stay-up-until-three-wake-up-at-noon type of life. Nothing steady, nothing definate. We had our own little corner of the house that was very much ours, and we took turns owning the whole thing, presenting it to friends, having parties. When Fred left, the ownership fell to us for whatever amount of time it took for him to return. We fought over the house without words, without conflict. Little things that said more than a slap in the face might have. The pain of pysical fighting increases with the intent.

It centered around the tv, usually. Marshall playing video games on the tv all day. Daniel and i offering to host unannounced movie nights. The television was a thing of power. We wanted it to be ours, wholly and permenantly. Of course this was impossible, but we tried anyway.

It's funny that Karl left with Fred. Karl who had classes, tests and finals to worry about just up and left the college life to go with Fred. Don't get me wrong, Karl is 27, older than the rest of us, but that doesn't put him in the same league as Fred. Karl is a freshman at the college if that gives you the right idea. So anyway he left with Fred and i guess he thought he was important enough to the house to leave it. The way he went though, one day he was sleeping in class and the next day he decides to pack his bags and go with Fred to Utah or wherever. Didn't even tell wnyone hardly, just went. I can't imagine that was the case with Fred, not showing up to work one day, nobody knowing where he's at. I'm sure he told everyone he was getting married.

That was another thing, Fred was engaged. To the rest of us marriage was so far away. None of us were even twenty yet, except Karl. And for him, i think, marriage isn't right around the corner either. The way he just dropped everything and left for Utah, that doesn't seem like the married type. It's funny it always feels like Karl is so much closer to my age than Fred's. We were talking once in class or something and you know how old Karl was on September 11, 2001? He was a senior in high school. i don't know, that just really put it into perspective for me. A senior in high school. That was me one year ago, and that was Karl September 11, 2001.

I was so surprised one time when Kevin and Marshall and Daniel and i were all talking one night. Fred had been gone maybe a week and It seemed like we had been fighting over the house the whole time and never would be friends or anything. Like it was Daniel and me versus them. So it just really surprised me that night to see us all joking till midnight, not caring about who would claim the tv tomorrow. I guess that's just us college type.

Karl got home first, i don't even know how, but there he was one day with all five seasons of some tv show from abc family and suddenly it was a Kyle XY marathon 24/7. You could wake up at three in the morning to take a dump and there would be Karl out there starting another episode and eating his microwave popcorn. Marshall  and Nephi tried to follow the series for about three seconds, but Karl had a rigorous schedule. No class, no friends, just him sitting in front of the tv all day. The thing that really got me, though, is that Karl had his own tv right there in his room. I don't know why he wasn't using that one.

Nephi seemed to be over constantly. Nephi and that one chick, i don't even know her name. They're friends of Marshall's, but they come in here all the time and act like they own the place. They're even worse then us who live here if you can belive that. Like this one time Nephi was sitting on the couch soaking his feet and this chick was on her laptop next to him and they're flirting. They have this viscious way of flirting where they just fight each other, it's all very mature. And don't even think that they are going to be quiet about it. So anyway they're over here sprawled out on the couch practically and Daniel and I are supposed to be hosting a party. They were just over there picking at each other and we practicalyy ahd to beg them to leave, they were so disruptive. We asked them if they wantedd to join, honestly we did, but that chick just gave me a look i would not want to repeat and Nephi simply could not cut his foot soak short. They migrated to Karl's room, adn the whole time they were walking in and out like we were invading on thier privacy. It did not do much for my opinion of them, that's for sure.

There are no Words for this

In my world of art class we have been learning about Salvador Dali and it is a little known fact that in the sixties, Dali worked with Walt Disney on an animated short to introduce surrealism to the mainstream public. They never finished as it was deemed inappropriate for children.

A few years ago, the Disney foundation finished the film using modern animating technology. You can see it on youtube. Or right here on this blog. Anyway i watched this video and really loved it. Except for the music. So i thought: what if the soundtrack to this movie was an Eric Whitacre Song? Whitacre, Dali and Disney all in one video?? How cool right? I tried it out and the result was profound. I know nothing about technology at all so i am giving you the chance to do it the ghetto way i did.

Mute the Destino video. Then make sure both the 'Destino' and the 'Sleep' videos are loaded. Then start 'Sleep' about fourty seconds after 'Destino' Don't try to understand it too much, Just feel the music and the images. What you see and hear might amaze you.

Now you are set to go. Enjoy!

English 222

This class is killing me. It's like i'm not even here. I've given up on trying to read the material, and i like to pretend that we don't have any homework. This of course is not true as my grade insists on telling me. So i am bearing this as best i can This is my major after all, but man its hard to appreciate some of this stuff. I for one believe that old literature should be known and not read. I only need to know enough about Sir Gaiwan to understand an allusion to him. That statement will be the death of no less than three english professors.

And that's what i like about english: its power. Really the only thing i don't like about his class is that we read the material and he explains it to us. He wants a discussion, but his definition of discussion is him presenting his ideas while we supply him with facts when he asks for them. "When did Virginia Woolf write 'A Room of One's own?' Good. Let me tell you about it." It'd be easier to bear if i had a cookie. Wyatt brought them for us to eat during his presentation, and they are sitting forgotten at the front of the class.

Ending #1 What i like in an english assignment: Read this. Think about it. Analyze it. Take something to it and bring something away from it. Then tell me what you learned Tell me your ideas. His assignments: Learn about an author. Find the facts: his life, his death, his works. We can't disagree on that.

Ending #2 It's funny. He always looks and me strangely when i make a comment on the text. He doesn't like to call on me anymore.

Ending #3 I think I'm going to steal a box of cookies.

Georges Braque

i have really loved taking world of art this semester. i especially love the modern art we are dicussing and have discovered a new favorite artist. His name is Georges Braque and he is a cubist painter adnd a contemporary of Picasso. Here are some of his works:

My revelation

i wish that i got the concept of a blog when i had started blogging. It would have been amazing to have chronicled my semester this way. So i will start by chronicling today. It was the final performance of Spring Sing and after crying so much last night i was expecting today to be much more emotional. That's not at all what happened. In fact it was during the Accapella choir's segment that i had the revelation to create this blog.

i went in immediate auto-pilot. The idea for the perfect blog had been somehow dropped into my head and i was not about to let it out. i thought it out and let it encompass me. i don't even remeber performing two or three of the songs i was so engrossed in the idea. I came around just before we sang 'How can I Keep From Singing?' and i know this about to sound really stupid, but in my head i imagined that i was saying something like 'how can i keep from writing?' and suddenly the song made so much sense and i had this revelation and conformation that i was doing it right; that i was supposed to be an english major and if i really keep after it i will find everything i want out of it. It was such an incredible, warm feeling. Like everything i had done, right or wrong, had gotten me to be who i was in that moment and in that moment i was on my way to becoming exactly what i wanted to become and what God wanted me to become. What a pawerful experience. It was one i will not soon forget, and i hope that i can continue feeling that way about myself as i prgress through life.

Lets try this again

So ever since i started blogging ( funny that 'life from the sidelines' was the first blog i attempted) i have been looking for the perfect blog for me. How do i express myself successfully. i think i finally found it. 'a room of one's own' is going to combine elements of all of my other blogs. originally this blog was entitled 'life from the sidelines' where i decided to be ridiculously funny (hence the first two posts) but now i want to try another approach where i really be very true to me posting pictures or videos i love and showing the world through my eyes.

One inspiriation for this blog came from the post things that happen from my blog Chad's everyday. i love finding meaning in everyday life so that will be a big part of this blog. Also there will be a lot of reminiscing and self-discovery. And I will put many of my short stories and writing ideas here. If my inspiration and vision of this blog become reality, this will be the blog to follow. Well i guess its up to you reader, read on and let me know.

Why you Should be Scared of the Dark

The dark is a pretty timid thing that likes to hide in corners and runs away when you turn on a lamp.

Except any time I turn off the light in any room ever, all the furniture in that room decides to play a little game called Lets-all-jump-right-in-Chad's-way-cause-he-can't-see-us.

Then I trip and die.

The End